China, Population

Mongols, Tibetans, northerners, southern China, central China

More than 20 percent of the world’s population lives in China. Of the country’s inhabitants, 92 percent are ethnic Han Chinese. The Han are descendants of people who settled the plains and plateaus of northern and central China more than 5,000 years ago, and of people in southern China who were absorbed by the northerners more than 2,000 years ago and gradually adopted a shared culture with them. The remaining 8 percent of China’s population consist of minority nationalities, such as Tibetans and Mongols. Most of the minority nationalities are concentrated in the sparsely settled areas of western and southwestern China.